"DEAR NORTH SIDERS: STOP ACTING LIKE CHICAGO DOESN'T HAVE A SOUTH SIDE"

"Our part of town has a few distinctions as well, but unfortunately, to the greater part of Chicagoland, the South Side is defined as a war-torn shit sandwich -- aka “Chiraq” -- filled with gangs battling over turf and corrupt politicians running roughshod over communities.

As a result, South Siders don’t quite get the same perks of belonging to Chicago that North Siders do. The Stanley Cup never seems to make its way to bars and restaurants south of Cermak. That “If Chicago's Neighborhoods Were Game of Thrones Houses” post from your friends’ Facebook wall most definitely ignores the lower half of the city (not part of the "known world"?). There’s a persistent attitude that there’s no reason for local Chicagoans to ride the Red Line beyond The Cell...

Many of you know that South Siders are a proud bunch. I suggest you check us out. Visit Pullman, Pilsen, South Shore, Beverly, Hyde Park (you might not find parking), Little Village, Pill Hill, Bronzeville, Englewood, or Bridgeport. A city that is so rich in history deserves better. To keep strictly to the North Side of the city would be like going on a vacation without ever leaving the confines of the resort.

Here’s a few places you can visit that you don’t hear much about:"

https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/chicago/an-open-letter-to-north-siders-who-won-t-visit-the-south-side-of-chicago

I'm so glad that I read this so early into my time in Chicago.

Every place I have ever lived, there has been at least one part of town or nearby city that you weren't supposed to go (unsaid end of the sentence: "unless you are poor and black, then that's where you belong") because you "could get shot!" or, like, mugged for, I guess, looking wealthy and/or white and, like, ~not knowing the streets~. The only legitimate reasons to go there would be some kind of volunteering or charity work where you drove directly to the school or whatever, and then directly back to safety.

It barely seems to occur to anyone that people live there, everyday, and don't get shot or OD after stepping on a druggy needle on the sidewalk or beat up by roving thugs or whatever else is supposed to happen in "the bad part of town". And a big part of the reasons why these communities have crime and poverty problems is because of a lack of financial investment; the kind of thing that happens when all the economically privileged people refuse to go there.